Historian Provides Feminist Perspective

March 20, 2013

OGDEN, Utah – A historian and author of two books on the life and thought of reformer Jane Addams will speak at Weber State University as part of Women’s History Month, March 28 at 1:30 p.m. in the Stewart Library Hetzel-Hoellein Room.

Louise Knight is an independent, Chicago-based historian. Her first book, “Citizen: Jane Addams and the Struggle for Democracy,” explores Addams’ formative years and shows how she became a leading figure in the progressive era. In 1931, Addams was the first American woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

Knight’s most recent study, “Jane Addams: Spirit in Action,” represents the first full biography of the reformer to be published in the last 40 years. In reviewing the book, feminist leader Gloria Steinem observed, “Jane Addams lives in these pages. So does her work and wisdom on such ongoing concerns as immigration, the intertwined restrictions of sex and race, striving for peace in a nation at war and acting locally while thinking globally.”

In her talk, Knight will discuss how Addams emerged from her unlikely beginnings as a sheltered daughter of the upper middle class to become a leading progressive activist. Knight will explore how Addams became political and what values shaped her reform agenda, including her commitment to cooperative leadership.

The lecture is sponsored by WSU’s Department of History, the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences and Office of the Provost. It is free and open to the public. Light refreshments provided.